Things just got really interesting in the race for the next College Football Playoff.
Left for dead last week after getting blitzed in a driving and windy rainstorm by Michigan State, Ohio State met a very uncertain situation against Michigan. The Game was thought to be an equivalent of a World Cup soccer consolation game. However, on the way to a game for pride, the Buckeyes played with pride and laid the Scarlet and Gray wood to a formidable Wolverine squad.
In some ways, this game can be thought of in the same light as the Big Ten Championship Game last year when OSU blitzed a solid Wisconsin team, 59-0, for all the world to see. In the end, it was the salve to the mortal wound the Buckeyes seemed to incur as a result of the early season loss to Virginia Tech.
Now, in much the same way, we have an Ohio State team with just one loss that finally showed the powers that be how it can play when the offensive and defensive lines are on the top of their games, Zeke Elliott is winding his way through the second level of the defense, and J.T. Barrett is running the power read-option to perfection. You can bet there won’t be any players popping off about the game plan and play calling after this one, either.
But is it a stretch to say that the Buckeyes have a legitimate shot at the playoff if Michigan State beats Penn State?
The CFP Committee has already shown that it puts great emphasis on winning a conference championship. Depending on what Michigan State does, the 2015 version of Ohio State’s team may never get that chance because of tiebreakers. Ohio State will still have a share of the Big Ten East, but Sparty would go to the party in Indy with a win over Penn State via its head-to-head victory over the Buckeyes last week.
Is that so bad? Yes and no.
Under the same situation, it also doesn’t have to play another game with a chance to lose. With Baylor already bowing out, and either Michigan State or Iowa playing a one-game elimination next week, things are beginning to open up. Could it be 2007 all over again when OSU sat back and waited while others lost in front of it?
So you’re saying there’s a chance?
However, isn’t this what the committee was formed for even if that doesn’t happen? Its job is to pick the best four teams in college football, not the best of each league. After this performance, do you really believe that Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, or anyone else in contention for the fourth spot can beat the Buckeyes in a one-game scenario when it plays to the potential we saw on Saturday?
Make no mistake about it. Ohio State and Urban Meyer will enjoy yet another win over their archrival, and will be motivated to have a good showing in whatever bowl it gets invited to, but you know Meyer is ready to pounce and bring a team that finally showed what we all thought it would be at the start of the year.
It could be too little too late, but we all could see a lot worse than Ohio State getting a ticket to try this whole thing yet again.
Okay, CFP Committee. You are now on the clock …
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Phil Harrison is a contributor to The Student Section. He is also the founder of Big10news.com and featured contributor to collegefootballews.com, talking10.com, and occasionally campusinsiders.com. You can follow him on twitter @PhilHarrisonCFB or email him at pharrison28@gmail.com. If that doesn’t work, you can find him in the doghouse at home.
